On Wednesday, December 13, the Board of Directors of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Vaudreuil-Soulanges adopted a resolution to encourage telecommuting by companies on the island of Montreal, in connection with the situation on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge. 

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Since December 1, one lane in each direction has been open on the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, causing major traffic delays and headaches for road users. 

Consequently, the CCIVS Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of Serge Ouellet, has decided to adopt this official resolution and forward it to the various levels of government, including: the Minister of Employment, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, the Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, the Minister of Labour, Seamus O'Regan Jr, the Minister of Employment, Randy Boissonnault, the Member of Parliament for the Vaudreuil riding, Marie-Claude Nichols, the Member of Parliament for the Soulanges riding, Marilyne Picard, the Member of Parliament for the Vaudreuil-Soulanges riding, Peter Schiefke and the Member of Parliament for the Salaberry- Suroît riding, Claude DeBellefeuille.

In this document, CCIVS administrators cite several reasons for its adoption, including: 

- Recent news regarding the existing Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, where another lane was removed following the discovery of a new crack;

- The currently permitted configuration of a single lane in each direction is insufficient to support the influx of vehicles using the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge;

- The current situation, which is causing overflow on the local road network of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Highway 20 and the local road network of towns located on Île-Perrot;

- This traffic overflow is having a negative impact on local merchants, who are seeing their business decline as the holiday season approaches, and it would be desirable to mitigate the impact of the mitigation measures put in place;

- A portion of the vehicles using the Vaudreuil-Soulanges road network on their way to the Island of Montreal are made up of workers who live in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, but work outside the region;

With this in mind, the CCIVS is convinced that telecommuting would enable many of these workers to stay at home, thereby relieving pressure on the road network. The directors therefore encourage companies in the greater metropolitan area to encourage and enable full-time, indefinite telecommuting until the situation improves. The resolution also calls on the provincial and federal governments to set up an incentive program for employers to encourage telecommuting for Vaudreuil-Soulanges residents.